Bayelsa poll: Tension in Bayelsa as Patience Jonathan plans to hijack APC, PDP
Adetokunbo Fakeye
Plans by former First Lady and wife of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience Jonathan to hijack the All Progressive Congress, APC in Bayelsa State to foist a candidate of her choice in the forthcoming governorship election in Bayelsa State has been uncovered.
A group simply known as the ‘Forum For Political Freedom in Bayelsa State, FOPOF, who revealed this, accused the former First Lady of using her illegally acquired wealth to heavily fund and create a power bloc in the APC in Bayelsa State, using members of the defunct Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, TAN, whom she equally used to undermine the leadership of the PDP in the State in the period leading up to the last presidential election, which the husband lost.
According to the Director-General of the group, Elder Adenzi Kakarite, the majority of those defecting from the PDP to the APC, are not only her close associates, but vocal members of the defunct TAN in Bayelsa State, whom she wants to use to impose a candidate of her choice to run on the platform of the party in the forthcoming elections.
Elder Kakarite pointed out that, the former first lady, who had promised to remain in Okrika has now made Otuoke her political sanctuary and daily holding meetings and providing funds, with a view to ensuring that, the defectors hijack the machinery of the APC to perfect her plans.
The FOPOF statement further disclosed that, to show her greed for power, she is on the other hand, also funding and working with the PDP Unity Forum, made up of PDP members, who were accused of anti party activities, during the last State House of Assembly polls in the State and were either expelled or suspended from the party.
It explains that, most of this group of PDP members, who were readmitted into the party, after the peace and reconciliation efforts of the National and State offices of the party, are being funded by the former first lady to carry out campaigns of calumny and spreading deliberate falsehood to discredit Governor Seriake Dickson, so that, she would also have her preferred candidate run for the PDP, thereby placing herself in a win, win situation.
FOPOF also warned Bayelsans to be mindful of the dirty and anti progressive antics of this group of persons, who are going about propagating falsehood, using some vulnerable Bayelsans to state that, the PDP will lose the Bayelsa governorship, if it fields incumbent governor Henry Seriake Dickson in the forthcoming election.
The statement read inter alia, “The former first lady is very greedy and selfish by wanting to sponsor the candidates of both the PDP and the APC, so that, she can continue to milk the State dry.
“Bayelsans must rise up and resist this woman, who clearly do not mean well for Bayelsa State, because she was partly the reason for the husband’s defeat in the last presidential election, and since she couldn’t succeed at the National level, she wants to come and force a governor of her choice down our throats. No, we must resist it”
It also disclosed that, the former first Lady is coming to meddle in Bayelsa politics, because she has fallen out of favour with her kinsmen in Okrika, Rivers State, stressing that, Bayelsans should rise up with one voice to fight this injustice about to be perpetrated by one woman for her own selfish interest.